Asset Management

Key Objective

To conserve and interpret the Trust’s heritage places and objects.

Key Strategies

Manage the Trust’s heritage assets to approved standards of excellence.
Improve visitor experiences through adoption of best practice interpretation and the recognition of the education, tourism and recreational values of Trust places and objects.
To assist in developing the knowledge, awareness, understanding and commitment for heritage places and objects.
To develop and maintain standards of documentation and conservation to assist in the management of the Trust’s heritage assets.
To acquire, rationalise and maintain heritage assets in accordance with the Trust’s mission and objectives.

Committee Terms of Reference

To advise the Council of the National Trust on issues relating to the strategic direction of the Asset Management program.
To provide advice on Asset Management policies, programs and plans as appropriate

Features of the 2000/2001 Program

New Approaches to Place Management

Approaches to heritage practice in Australia are constantly evolving. Consequently it is vital that the Trust keeps abreast of developments and makes every effort to work at the highest possible level of professional practice. Perhaps the most obvious change has been in relation to the conservation and interpretation of the numerous layers of history at Trust properties.

No longer does the Trust attempt to return a historic property to a fixed period in time. The accretions of various owners and the visible signs of changing uses are conserved. In addition there is no attempt to strive for cosmetic appeal where this is not part of a property’s past. This same shift in thinking applies also to the way in which the properties are presented.

Donations to the Trust’s collections are strictly monitored according to the Collections Policy. Priority is given to objects that are provenanced to existing properties and no longer are items acquired on the basis that the Trust may one day manage a property where they may be useful. Such an approach helps ensure that the Trust’s scarce resources are directed toward the most significant and relevant collections.

Increasingly a more multi-disciplinary approach is being taken in understanding and managing Trust properties. Archaeologists, historians, landscape architects, conservators and other professionals work with the Trust’s Curator and Heritage Manager so that a more comprehensive and multi-faceted view can be taken. Such a methodology also safeguards the future of the various elements of a property by recognising their importance and reduces the possibility of valuable historical evidence being lost.

Work with Local Government

Considerable effort has gone into developing active partnerships with local government in order to benefit Trust properties and to more fully involve local communities in the ongoing care. Strong working relationships already exist with the Shire of Bridgetown-Greenbushes, the Shire of Greenough, the Shire of Nungarin, the City of South Perth and the Shire of Coolgardie. Most of these Councils have formal agreements in place with the Trust and are involved in the day-to-day management of the properties concerned.

Work for the Dole

The Work for the Dole program has been of inestimable value to the Trust. Crews have been based at East Perth Cemeteries, the Old Observatory, Settler’s Cottage Herdsman Lake, Tranby, Woodbridge and the Luisini Winery. Projects ranging from tree planting to painting and woodwork have been completed under the supervision of an outstanding team of project supervisors.

Collection Documentation Project

Last year a team of volunteers received training in how to document collections. Since then, a group at Tranby and individuals at Wonnerup and Old Blythewood have been tackling this laborious task with great enthusiasm. The Tranby team has completed the first stage and prepared detailed descriptions of every item in the house. They are now photographing each object and next year will enter all the descriptions and images into the Trust’s specialist database. Once completed the information will be made available through the internet using the Australian Museums On-Line (AMOL) website. Working by themselves, the volunteers based at Wonnerup and Old Blythewood have made steady progress and it is hoped they too will soon have the evidence of their greatly valued efforts available to the world through AMOL.

Research

As the Trust deals with its properties at a more in-depth level than perhaps ever before it is becoming increasingly evident that a greater body of research is required. Over the past years activities have been based on the individual property conservation plans, some of which offer little more than a superficial summary history of a place. Desperately needed is solid primary research data that can be used in the development of planning documents, education programs and other activities. During the year research projects have been commenced at Bridgedale and Ellensbrook. It is hoped that additional properties will also come under the research microscope as funding becomes available.

Planning

A core component of the work of the Asset Management staff involves planning. The revision of existing conservation plans and the development of interpretation plans for the Trust’s properties are undertaken by professional consultant heritage architects and curators. The implementation of the plans is undertaken and overseen by the Trust’s Heritage Manager and the Curator.

While planning is sometimes viewed unsympathetically, in relation to heritage work it is a vital tool. It is critical that the material evidence of the past is cared for appropriately so that it will survive for the future. Short term gains may mean long term losses and once the loss has occurred it can never be regained. Grants are generally used to fund planning work so consequently the Trust’s scarce resources can be used in implementation.

Public Education

The Curator and Heritage Manager gave talks to a number of organisations during the year including TAFE interior design students and University of Western Australia archaeology students. The Curator lectured in two units of Edith Cowan University’s Certificate in Museum Studies. The Heritage Manager conducted public tours of the Fremantle Artillery Drill Hall during Heritage Week. Three students from Curtin University’s Research Institute for Cultural Heritage have undertaken practicum projects involving the collections and have been supervised by the Curator.

Collection Storage

The Trust’s collection storage facility underwent yet another full relocation during the year. Over a period of four days several men moved an estimated 6,000 objects from a former store of 1,500 square metres to a far smaller 500 square metre space. While the Trust is grateful to the Midland Redevelopment Authority for it’s generous provision of the space, it is far from being suitable as a place in which to house the collection. Efforts continue to find a permanent home for the stored collections in order to enhance their preservation and to facilitate access to researchers.

Interpretation Planning Guidelines

In early 2000 the Curator developed guidelines to help with the preparation of interpretation plans. The document has be extremely useful when briefing consultants and when considering interpretation issues on a day to day basis. During the year it was pleasing that the Australian Council of National Trusts decided to formally adopt the guidelines document.

Conservation of the Moveable Heritage Collection

Several highly significant objects were conserved during the year. Four opalotypes, photographic images on milky coloured glass, were cleaned and archival quality matts interleaved between the glass and the original yet very acidic matts. The opalotypes are portraits of John Wall Hardey and his wife Elizabeth of Tranby, and Mr and Mrs W.R. Clarkson who were friends of the previous generation of Hardeys. The four framed images are once again hanging at Tranby for all to see.

Three important oil paintings were carefully treated by fine art conservator Gordon Hudson. The Hardeys (although this time Mr & Mrs John Hardey) were again the subject of specialist attention. Both paintings underwent remedial treatment to reverse earlier poor repairs and to ensure that they were stable and in sound condition. Substantial research was conducted to find appropriate framing styles for the two 1830s portraits by Hannah Maria Hudson. The result was hand carved frames, gilded with 23 carat gold leaf, that were more appropriate and sympathetic to these charming mid nineteenth century artworks. Both husband and wife look refreshed and comfortable and are expected to be re-exhibited at Tranby in the near future.

An oil painting dated 1896 by Augusta Knight and titled “Kalgan River, WA” underwent a lengthy treatment process. Badly damaged by water at some point in its life the buckling was reversed, the image cleaned and minute flakes of paint were reattached to the canvas among other things. It was reframed with a more appropriate moulding. The painting will be returned soon to the Old Farm Strawberry Hill for display.

Gifts to the Trust

A number of important acquisitions were made during the year. As a result of the Bridgedale historical research project a 1924 watercolour painting of the Blackwood River was offered by Mrs Elizabeth Trevenan. It had been given to the donor by her aunt May Blechynden who had always hung the painting in the sitting room at Bridgedale. It has been returned to the house following essential preventative conservation work.

Mrs Gretchen Anketell donated a writing box of her grandfather’s Joseph Hardey’s who built Tranby. The donation marked the celebration of the wedding of the donor’s grandson Justin Harty to Kim Spinks held at Tranby in March.

A collection of numerous original furnishings from Wonnerup was given by Mrs Margaret Webster through her daughter Mrs Penny Colson. The furniture and other domestic equipment are made even more interesting and significant as they are accompanied by information about where each piece was placed within the property.

Donations specific to Trust special projects were also made. Mrs I. West gave a card outlining train arrangements for the opening of the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme 1903. Mr Don Phillips, Mr Raymond Dunstan and Mrs Norma Brooks each gave wine bottles from the Luisini Winery.

The extreme generosity of people such as those mentioned above is greatly appreciated. Opportunities to acquire objects originally from Trust properties are very rare and the resources do not exist to purchase. It is unrealistic to imagine that the properties will ever be refurnished with their original contents but the more items that can be returned to them the better. These gifts to the National Trust on behalf of the people of Western Australia are highly valued and treasured.

Risk Management

A risk management plan for the properties and collections was recently developed. The assessment process undertaken as part of the plan helped aid budget formulation and in deciding a number of priorities for the next few years.